1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a system for communicating between a workstation and a network peripheral which includes steps to transfer HTML files and JAVA applets from the peripheral to a browser executing within the workstation, to execute a JAVA applet so as create an SNMP client within the workstation and to execute a JAVA applet so as communicate with the peripheral via the SNMP client.
2. Description Of The Related Art
A local area network allows workstations to access peripherals located on the network. The workstations query and control the network peripherals through various networking protocols. Therefore, in order to control and monitor a network peripheral, both a workstation and the peripheral must be equipped to communicate via a common networking protocol.
Simple Network Management Protocol ("SNMP") is a widely-used network monitoring and control protocol. As such, many network peripherals are currently equipped to communicate over networks via SNMP. Briefly, SNMP-equipped peripherals contain SNMP agents, which are hardware and/or software implementations that report peripheral status to and receive commands from other network devices. The SNMP agent utilizes data contained in a Management Information Base ("MIB") to determine what information is available from the peripheral and to determine which aspects of the peripheral can be controlled.
Corresponding workstations can be equipped with SNMP clients, which are software implementations that communicate with a peripheral's existing SNMP agent.
Tektronix, Inc. has recently introduced its PhaserLink.TM. system, which allows users to query a network printer through the World Wide Web or an intranet, using an HTTP server located in the printer itself. As a result, a network user may, using a web browser, access and view several web pages which contain status and control information relating to the printer. However, in order to provide current information to the user, the server in the printer must, in response to a request from the user, query the printer as to the printer's status and thereafter script an appropriate HTML page in accordance with the status.
PhaserLink printers also include an SNMP agent for communicating the same status and control information to SNMP clients. Accordingly, PhaserLink is not a satisfactory system for communicating status and control information because it involves so much duplication. Particularly, instead of communicating with the printer through the printer's already-existing SNMP agent, PhaserLink creates another complex interface which attempts to emulate the capabilities of the SNMP protocol.
Therefore, what is needed is a system which allows a workstation to query and control a network peripheral through the peripheral's existing SNMP agent using industry-standard tools already existing within the workstation.